


once upon a time

by chara (sbahjification)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7999939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbahjification/pseuds/chara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>intro fic for my blog<br/>tumblr version here http://oncexponatxme.tumblr.com/post/150063868273</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> read tags on the tumblr version for content warnings

The last steps on the child’s journey to safety were interlaced with panic. The wind howled behind their back, blowing hair in front of their face and obscuring their already limited vision. They’d been walking without rest and their body was attempting to give out from under them, but they pushed it forward, searching for any form of shelter. Raindrops threatened to drown them at every step and it took all their determination to fight against that until they found themself in a dry cave.

Before their legs could give up on their own, they allowed themself to fall, to look out over the valley they had just a few days ago called home. Up here, they had no home, and no parents, and nobody else that could hurt them, except themself.

From here, the rain didn’t look so scary.

-

Water droplets pounded against the roof of the cave, occasionally splashed into each other and around the child, but all they did was silently take in what they could no longer go back to.

The flowers that were hanging on to life in the cold autumn climate breathed easily for one more day. 

They could carry on even without humans, provided the rain took care of them. It seemed they were forced to, for everyone was now huddled in their comfortable, warm houses out of fear.

**Fear of what? Getting a cold? Ruining their clothes? What stupid reasoning, they thought. What sort of child could be afraid of something like that?** With every word their hand pressed into the cavern wall, the scratches that formed contributing frustratingly little to the pain throughout the rest of their body.

Whatever they’d done in life, they reasoned, whatever excuses they’d made to huddle inside, it was too late now. All they could do was press forward and accept whatever fate had in store for them. Despite their legs’ objections, they stood up.

-

All they could make out ahead of them was a pit and green bumps surrounding it.

This solidified their plan.

Taking as deep a breath as their lungs allowed, they forced themself up again.

All they had to do was run. They would fall, and they wouldn’t think about dying until they were in Hell.

With the last of their strength, they pushed forward.

Their foot snagged on a vine and the ground fell out from beneath them.

-

The way down felt like hours as their brain hurriedly ran through memories. Cowering in a bathroom after hearing shouting and collisions outside, seeing small children play games on library computers, the feeling of older, bigger children tearing their clothes up, the dread of knowing they’d have to go home and explain why yet another expensive sweater was ruined, watering wildflowers and watching how beautiful they grew to be, reading stories about mountains and the people who conquered them and the people who didn’t...

-

They’d never wanted to die. They’d just wanted to disappear.

They threw their arm out and called for help.


	2. Chapter 2

For a long while after they woke up, nothing registered except pain. Were they in Hell?

“ _Oh! You’ve fallen down, haven’t you..._ ”

Were there angels in Hell?

“ _Are you okay?_ ”

**Okay?**

They tried to move their body. Nothing happened. Instead they managed a low groan that at least got the point across that they were alive.

“ _Here, get up..._ ”

Before they even had a chance to respond, hands gripped them around the waist.

Strange-feeling hands.

Then around their right arm.

Hands with fur? Do angels not shave nowadays?

The angel took a hold of their right wrist and hurriedly moved their hand upward to the child’s elbow when they called out in pain. Attempting to see who was so carelessly forcing them to limp along like this, the child used their good hand to lift overgrown bangs out of the way.

A light seemed to shine above them, haloing white fur and floppy ears. They discreetly moved their elbow closer, feeling the softness of the angel’s neck against their skin. There was really no mistaking it - they were being carried ahead by a goat.

“Can you hear me?”

“Huh?” Less of a word and more of a choked exclamation of surprise, they immediately followed it up with a painful cough.

“Your name!”

It took a few long pauses and fits of clearing blood from their throat to answer.

“Chara, huh? That’s a nice name.” The way they said it made Chara want to puke. What sort of ulterior motives did they have, acting so sweet?

“My name is Asriel.”

-

They exchanged no words beyond that. Chara couldn’t force any out and Asriel seemed almost nervous to have someone under their care like this. So silently they took every step until they ended up at a cozy house.

“This is where I live, and...”

Asriel’s sentence was cut short as the sweetness of their voice combined with the lingering smell of butterscotch drove Chara to puke up bile and blood. 

-

Their savior only abandoned them in their own mess of fluids for as long as it took to call out two other people, one of whom cast such a large shadow that Chara could see well enough to make out their figures.

A whole family of goats, starting from the tiny, frail Asriel and ending at one twice, maybe three times their size, which was enough to make Chara try to crawl backward on their good arm - a futile attempt as hands as big as their torso inched under it and picked them up so high that if they wiggled away they’d surely die. 

“There is no need to be afraid, small one.” Another hand reached up to gently examine them and to frisk carefully over the injured parts, which seemed to hurt just a little less each second. “I am afraid healing magic may not work on you. However, worry not. For now, you need rest.”

Their hand moved, not quickly, but enough for Chara to flinch, until it passed them by and rested on the largest goat, guiding the two through the open door and into a bedroom that smelled somewhere between a barn and an antique house. As soon as they were close enough to the bed, they squirmed out of the large goat’s arms, landed flat on their own, and threw up blood again, all over the nice floor. Before they could process what they’d done they fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

Their body was laid comfortably on the softest bed they’d ever touched and all of their injured limbs were tightly wrapped up in either bandages or strips of fabric.

The floor was clean, in fact looking pristine and white, and nobody made a comment about how they’d dirtied it.

Above them, the family seemed to have settled into chairs. Had they really been waiting for them to wake up? For how long? Asriel in particular seemed to perk up when they made eye contact, excitedly tugging at the mother goat’s sleeve. 

“Mom, Mom, they’re awake!!” Their voice was quiet, as if they didn’t believe what they said and didn’t want to wake Chara should the latter really be asleep, but it drew the attention of the mother goat, who knelt down to look them in the eyes. The other two followed suit, Asriel’s inquisitive eyes barely poking over the edge of the bed.

“How do you feel?” Her voice was quiet and gentle. If she was trying not to scare them, it was a bit too late for that.

Opening their mouth to answer only led to Chara taking in a sharp breath and clutching their rib with the hand they could move.

Would it be too much to ask for food? they considered. They hadn’t eaten in about three days, and yet they had just puked all over a caring family’s floor. Deciding against it, they laid back down, settling their head into the cloud-like pillow.

“Oh dear... Do you need anything? I can only heal you so well. Perhaps a meal is in order. You were asleep for a while...” As badly as they wanted to agree, they’d made up their mind, and shook their head.

“You do not want food? Are you... sure? Even we are getting hungry, so I am going to make some anyway...”

“Don’t try to rush them, Tori.” The deepness of the voice contrasted with the other two so much that Chara almost laughed. “We can save them some for when they’re ready. Azzy, would you stay with them?”

“Of course! As long as you bring me some food too! Hee hee!”

The others giggled at this. Chara didn’t. Perhaps this family really would be like the others.

“It is Chara, correct?”

“Uh huh,” Asriel responded on their behalf.

“Chara, my name is Toriel. This is my husband, Asgore, and you have met our son. He is going to stay with you while we make some food. Please do not be afraid to ask for anything you may need. We want to make sure you are happy here.”

**Bullshit** , Chara thought, their lidded eyes meeting the goats’ to the best of their ability. They had no choice but to play along, though, and nodded. The parents left the room carefully, leaving the door slightly open and giving them genuine smiles on the way out.

-

A day passed in this manner, Toriel’s overbearing hospitality competing with a stubborn child who would rather allow themself to waste away than to go further into debt with this family. Regardless they didn’t have the physical strength to resist Toriel’s therapy, and eventually were able to breathe well enough to sit up, which in Toriel’s mind signified it was time to feed them.

She brought in a plate with a cold piece of pot pie and Chara simply stared at it. It seemed homemade, with a flaky, beautifully imperfect crust and large chunks of vegetables looking for escape routes through the sides. Before they could really think about how much work must have gone into making it, and how happy someone like Asriel would have been eating it hot, there was a fork to their mouth.

“Choo choo! The train is arriving! Hee hee hee.” **What do I care? I don’t know the people on the train.** “... My child, you must eat. It has been too long, and your journey here must have been difficult...” **They do have families. Perhaps dogs. I suppose I don’t want any dogs to be sad today.** They opened their mouth and let Toriel push food into it as if she were feeding her own child.

Thinking of the dogs, they chewed slowly, and it occurred to them that they’d never had homemade pot pie before. Even cold, it was more delicious than anything they’d ever had, and as they swallowed it seemed that a bit of their energy came back immediately.

By the time they’d gotten over how good it was, the plate was empty. Their body felt better than it had in a long time, **but** , they figured, **I could really have gone a couple more days with just water**. 

“Good! You are very good. I think you will feel much better soon.”

Why did this woman seem so happy to have resources stripped from her? Surely Asgore could eat three of those pies in one sitting, the idea of leaving behind a piece just for them was incomprehensible.

-

They caught Toriel’s eye as she was standing in the doorway with the empty plate.

“Miss Toriel.”

Her face brightened more at hearing them speak, and a silence fell as they tried to use their voice again.

“When will I leave?”

Toriel stared at them for a long few seconds, the maternal happiness now stripped from her face. She looked... guilty? Apologetic?

She forced a smile for just as long as it took to disappear with the plate.

-

They were alone for a few minutes following that. The first to rejoin them was Asriel, who brought in a piece of candy.

“I heard you ate a whole piece of pie! You should have some of this for dessert, it’s really good! Well, if you like licorice...”

He tried to hand it to them, then realized the wrapper was designed for two-handed people and unwrapped it himself. Chara examined it. It was a brighter pink than seemed natural and felt like the candies that children would barter for in the cafeteria. Looking up at Asriel revealed only a hopeful smile and quiet encouragements to “go on, try it!” Seeing that they wouldn’t be left alone and that the worst fate for this candy would be for it to go to waste, they took a bite of half of it, prompting stifled giggles from the goat who was likely used to eating these by the handful.

It had a distinct flavor. Nothing like licorice at all, and in fact surprisingly like strawberry. It tasted so natural that it had to be expensive, and they held out the other half.

“I don’t like licorice much.” It wasn’t a lie.

“I guess not, huh... I can save it if you want!” Asriel took the half piece of candy out of their hands, and though his fingers didn’t appear dexterous enough to hold something so small he managed to anyway, and his floppy mouth pulled back in an open smile, revealing sharp fangs that they couldn’t help but to stare at. They were massive, and could easily maul Chara at any point. What drove him to sheathe them?

“Don’t bother.” His face drooped, hiding away their point of interest, and they went to lay on their left side.

“Um...” The quiet voice called them back to attention, and they tilted their head enough to make it known they were listening. “Mom and Dad... they want to talk to you about leaving. I’m gonna go get them, okay?”

They nodded, and he was off.

-

By the time they could push themself onto their back, the rest of the family was there and occupied chairs around them.

“Chara... We do want you to be happy. And we would love to send you home, but we cannot,” Toriel began nervously. She seemed to watch them for a reaction, but they had none and only stared at her until she continued.

“We are trapped underground with a magic spell. We cannot break it. Asgore and I..." In a split second she glanced over to Asriel, who suddenly found the floor very interesting. “We have no way to let you go until we are dead. You may have to live out the rest of your life here. We will try to provide for you as well as we can.”

Another silence fell. Eye contact broke as they all seemed to find what Asriel saw in the floor.

“Is there anything you want?” Toriel finally broke it with. 

“I want to know why,” Chara blurted out, pushing themself upward. “ **Why you’re letting me use up all your things. I’ll do whatever you want. There’s no need for all this.** ”

It took the human just as long as the goat to register what they’d said, and when they did they sunk back onto the pillows.

**How stupid. They’re a family. Of course they’re going to be nice.**

Their left hand flitted over to their right and massaged old cuts that hadn’t quite faded yet, onto their still-broken right wrist, pressing down a little harder than they should have been while the family thought up a response.

“We have never seen a human down here before,” Asgore’s deep voice finally cut in. “You are a symbol of hope for the entire kingdom. Even if we didn’t also want you to be happy, your smile would help everyone imagine a brighter future.

“If you would like to pay us back, Chara, living here happily is the best thing you can do.”

This brought up more questions than it answered, however Chara did get their demand, and in any case they were exhausted from speaking. 

“Although,” interjected Toriel, “We would very much appreciate it if you ate meals without fuss.” Asriel nodded excitedly and all of them laughed. Chara still didn’t see what was funny about it, and muttered out “yes, ma’am...” Her smile turned from joking to delicate as she gave them a gentle hug.

“I will start dinner now, and it will be ready in about an hour. Chara may take a nap in the meanwhile, but they will be joining us.”

**That’s more like it.** They rolled over with a smirk as the muffled sounds of furry feet faded. They pressed a little harder on their wrist.

-

They didn’t sleep. They tried to scan the room for sharp objects, but Toriel didn’t seem the kind to keep them around anyway.

When dinner came around, they were gently raised by Asgore. They didn’t wiggle out this time.

There were three matching chairs at the table; the fourth, the one Chara was gingerly placed into, was warm, soft, and entirely too big. Everything in this house seemed that way. 

Set at their table was a piece of pie with an inside Chara had never seen before and the same delicious crust, along with a glass of water and milk. They didn’t want to think about where the milk would have come from.

“It is my own recipe,” Toriel explained pridefully, “with snails fresh from the farm.” Before they could react to this, Chara had already put a forkful into their mouth. The texture was slimy, but surrounded by Toriel’s pie crust it was still miles better than some things they’d had. They took another bite without complaint and followed it with water.

The family made idle conversation (or, in Asriel’s case, excited conversation, where he sometimes ended up on the chair on his knees, exposing a small, fluffy tail). At some point Chara had taken the knife under the table and examined it. It was just a butter knife that would take a noticeable amount of effort to cut anything besides pie with. They opted to put it back.


	4. Chapter 4

As the days passed, Chara’s condition improved to the point where they could talk, or rather, respond when prompted. The family had gotten them their own unimaginably soft bed to match Asriel’s, and their own relatively soft chair to match Asriel’s. They also sent a request off to the royal scientist to see if he could make a sturdy crutch based off Chara’s drawings. They were starting to feel like they’d found a real home, but constantly caught themself looking for the catch.

Another week and the catch never came - but the crutch did, fit to Chara’s specifications, made of a hard metal and painted gold. With it strapped around their wrist, they could walk around without aid and get a proper tour of their new home.

Rather than take advantage of this opportunity, though, they went just across the hall from their room and into the garden. They’d been out here before (for lack of a better toilet facility), but had never been able to simply sit and enjoy the garden for what it was: a wonderland of different sorts of flowers. Big ones, small ones, in every color from golden yellow to purple to hot dog...? One of the only things they’d missed about their village was the garden and now they had their own to visit whenever they pleased.

They sifted through trying to name every variety of flower, but they only recognized one.

“I’ve seen this type of plant before but I don’t know its name.” Asriel went quiet as they began, not wanting to interrupt what seemed to be a passionate monologue. “You could get tea of it that was supposed to help you sleep.”

“Are those different from these?” Asriel picked up a much shorter, singular flower that had the same five yellow petals and brought them over to compare.

“They’re shorter, and they don’t grow in bundles like these do, or have the leaves right here. I’ve never seen that kind of flower before.” They took it from his hand and compared the two. “Do you think this one is edible?”

“Uhh... I-I guess I would hope so?”

“Dare me to find out?”

“Not really...”

They paused for a moment then dropped the flowers in favor of grabbing a clump of dirt from beneath them and throwing it at him.

“Boo, you’re no fun!!” they declared with a loud laugh.

“I am too!” Along with this, he responded by throwing some dirt in return, effectively starting a turf war between the kids.

Asriel naturally won out, having the advantage of two arms and two legs, and the children ended up collapsed next to each other, now muddy, covered in flower petals, and giggling.

-

“Children? Are you in h-” Toriel’s question was cut off by a small gasp as she took in the sight of the kids, covered in mud and grime and looking like they couldn’t be happier. Asriel let out such a sudden laugh that he snorted, and whispered in Chara’s ear as their mother hurriedly stormed away.

“You’re gonna get the hose, Chara!! Hee hee!”

Watching her stomp off in a manner they didn’t recognize as being dramatized, they started scooting away and by the time she was back wielding the hose they had completely balled up.

“ **i’m sorry, i won’t do it again, i can wash them, just don’t...** ”

Their muttering trailed off as they began to come back to reality to the tune of Asriel gently calling their name.

“Chara... it’s okay, we were joking...”

Poking their eyes above their arm revealed that he was leaning down, hands close enough to startle but not to hurt them, and they scooted back further.

“ **you’ve... You’ve got a sick sense of humor.** ” 

Out of their sight, Asriel looked up at his mother. “Do humans not like water...?”

“If you do not like water, it is really alright... However, I must clean your clothes, at least. You may use some of Asriel’s in the meantime.”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal!! Here, get up...”

-

“Are you sure you can dress yourself with one hand? We can h-”

“ **I’ll manage.** ” The sharp response took Asriel aback and as they processed the look on his face he quickly disguised it with a smile. They imagined what it would be like to be able to do that.

“Okay! I’ll wait outside in case you need help.” They nodded, and he shut the door slowly.

-

Flitting through Asriel’s closet for things that fit proved to be a task of both balance and patience, virtues Chara was not blessed with, and as a result just trying things on ended up with several accounts of them falling onto their bad side and having to stifle shouts. **Stop being an idiot!** grew louder in their head every time they forced themself back up.

When eventually they did get on a sweater that fell to their midriff and completely covered their wrists, paired with some pants that hung loosely around their calves, they fell on to the bed.

The second order of business was to scan the room for any and every sharp object they could have missed the first thousand times around, and when that failed, any good blunt object. When even that was unavailable, they sunk to a knee between their bed and dresser and started banging their head against the wall.

“ **Stupid. Stupid. Worthless. Fucking. Idiot. Can’t. Do. Anything. Right.** ” Each word was punctuated by another bang, and they continued in this manner until large, furry hands forced them to go stiff and placed them onto the soft bed. Unable to get up, resist, or think, they stared at the floor, listening to but barely registering the sound of heavy footsteps dashing out of the room and then back in with assistance, and only responding when Toriel had knelt down in front of them.

“ **i’m sorry. i know what i did, i know i deserve to be hit.** ” The desperate mumble happened automatically, as did their body tensing up when a hand was rested gently upon them.

“My child... none of us have any desire to see you hurt. Please lay down, and I will bring you your dinner.” Toriel removed her hand and waited for them to respond; when they didn’t, she opted instead to gently place them in bed and tuck them in with a gentle stroking of their head, then leave, ensuring that the door stayed open just a crack.

-

When she returned, Asriel had taken her spot, examining Chara to the best of his ability. The way they stared off into the distance concerned him, but lack of experience with humans meant he couldn’t make any clear diagnosis, and instead when his mother came back in he dashed away again, this time returning with Asgore.

“I know you didn’t wanna scare them before, but he’s gotta see them to be able to help, and I know you know about humans...” The conversation grew louder as Asriel dragged his father into the room. “They were hitting their head really hard, and now they’re just...”

Asgore put a hand on the outstretched, catatonic one belonging to the human. Try as they might, their heart continued to beat, and he could feel evidence of that in the way their wrist rhythmically pounded. 

“I’m very proud of you, Azzy. You’re becoming so smart,” the king began, giving Asriel a smile. “When they feel better, we’ll have him check them out. For now, it will be better to let them rest. And you should, too, it’s almost bed time.”

“Noooo!! Hee hee!”

“It’s too late! King Dad is on the move!”

“Nooooooooo!” This last shout got fainter as Asriel was pulled up into the air, then slam dunked (gently) onto his bed. Fits of giggles ensued from all goats in the room, and the lights went out.


	5. Chapter 5

“Chara, please wake up... “

They fuzzily opened their eyes. The lights were still off, and the room smelled of butterscotch. A pounding headache rendered them unable to move their eyes, so they tilted their whole torso slightly to comfortably look at Asgore, who held out a piece of pie unlike any they’d ever seen even in this house.

“Please eat this. You have a big day ahead of you.” 

After a few minutes and a glass of water, they finally sampled a bit of the pie.

Everything in this house had the delicious taste of being homemade, but this was by far the best thing they’d had since coming here, so much so that they fought back against throwing it up when they finished the entire piece. Asgore looked delighted.

“Chara, today we’re going to visit Dr. Gaster. This means that for the first time, you’re going to be leaving the castle. Monsters will approach you, but none of them will hurt you. They are all very friendly, and very excited to have a human here. I’ll be with you in case you get scared. It will be great fun.”

They looked at his bright smile and picked up their fork, directing it towards the sleeping Asriel across the room. His eyes followed it, and he made it clear visually that he was thinking.

“I don’t see why not.”

He vanished and came back a few seconds later, now bribing Asriel awake with a hot piece of pie. He seemed much more receptive to it and to the idea of leaving the castle, and Chara watched as his tail wagged while he got ready.

“Are you really gonna walk? It’s a long way...” Upon realizing Asriel had intended the question to be for them, Chara simply shrugged and stood up. Shifting their weight slightly too far to the left was second nature to them, and though their head objected to the idea of being vertical, their body didn’t. They gave a thumbs up.

“If you’re sure... And you don’t want to change into something cooler? I have short-sleeved shirts.” The thumbs-up persisted. “If you say so...”

-

Asgore joined them not long after, decked out in a Hawaiian-styled shirt and short pants. He almost looked human. Chara stared at the ground.

“Are we all ready then? Er, and are you really going to wear that...?” the king enquired, looking Chara up and down. They still had on the ill-fitting hand-me-downs that they saw no problem with.

“They said they don’t mind!” Asriel’s voice was perky as ever, and he immediately started the routine of excitedly tugging on his dad. “Are we gonna go?”

“Of course, of course! Are you ready, Chara?” He reached out a hand, and they walked in front of it, through the door, into the garden, out the garden...

Rather than extend into the dirt path they’d had to make a trek across to get here, the area beyond the garden was smooth flooring, with massive buildings on the horizon. They ended up bumped into more than a few times as they tried to stop and appreciate the kingdom they were now part of the ruling family over. The third time this happened prompted Asgore to say, “We can show you on the way back, and I can tell you all about the Underground. For now, we just have to get to the laboratory, okay?” Complying with this, they kept their head down and moved forward as much as they could.

Stepping out of the grey hallway’s elevator led them into a bright blue area that Chara had to sit down for a few seconds to recover from. The mechanical whirs of the machinery around them competed with the paint and nearby monsters in their head, and before anyone could notice and confront the royal family Asgore had picked them up.

“Howdy, Astigmatism! I cannot talk right now, but you are welcome to come by for tea later! Howdy, Madjick!”

This chorus of greeting people continued on as they went down the halls, sometimes repeating as he found several of the same monster. By the end of it Chara had to pass their crutch off to Asriel in exchange for a glass of water in order to keep calm, and they curled up enough that Asgore would carry them in one arm and greet people with the other. They remained like this for the duration of the walk, and at no point did Asgore seem to mind or encourage them to exit his arms; in fact he seemed excited to carry this burden and to stop every few inches to shoo monsters away. All of them seemed so curious about the presence of the human that if Chara weren’t sure it was a front they’d feel bad. 

Respite came in the form of a quiet area just outside the mechanical maze, and Chara found themself on the ground, lap full with a sandwich and pop-open bottle filled with what appeared to be urine.

“Azzy mentioned to me that you can make tea out of those golden flowers,” Asgore explained when he saw them eyeing the bottle, “and so I’ve made us some. Drink as much as you like, we are almost to Dr. Gaster’s lab.”

After performing a quick smell test to ensure that it was in fact what he claimed it was, Chara took a sip. The tea tasted as though it had honey in it, but not enough. It was pretty good, as teas went, and like other foods monsters made it seemed to instantly restore some of their energy. They hadn’t used up enough to burn off the pie, though, and instead put their sandwich back and sipped the tea as they took in their surroundings.

The metal floor below them transitioned smoothly into a rocky earth and a cavern far in the distance shone with an orange light. Monsters seemed less populous here than in the previous area, and the mechanical whir was quiet enough to fade into the background. The transition from blue to orange gave the hopeful feeling of the sun rising after a thunderstorm, and Chara’s headache seemed to be waning a little for now. 

-

They made it to the glowing cavern before their body made it clear that walking the rest of the way would not be an option. Slipping out of their crutch and into Asgore’s arms, they took in the new area about as well as they could, and just as quickly as they’d entered the bright light, they were out of it, and in the depths of... a spider cave?

“Howdy, Bitsy! How are the spiders doing?”

In the dim light Chara could see best, and they made out the figure of an anthropomorphic spider, wearing sunglasses that covered only two of her eight eyes, a black suit that seemed better tailored to a human, and long, straight hair that she absentmindedly twirled with four of her hands. 

“They’re doing marvelous, King Asgore, thanks to you.” Her voice was reminiscent of a video game secret agent, which Chara supposed her appearance did as well. “Having this cave did wonders for our population. If you ever please, you could stop by. I could offer you something from my parlor.” One free hand blew a kiss, and Asgore let out a strange, uncomfortable-sounding laugh.

“I have somewhere to be at the moment, but I’ll certainly think about it!”

“Ta-ta, then, and see you again some time.”

Even as the group made off, Chara couldn’t help but feel four pairs of eyes on them.


	6. Chapter 6

A few more elevator rides came and went and Chara found themself again amidst loud humming that they couldn’t block out and surrounded by excited monsters trying to get a peek of them. All the while this time, though, they could listen to Asriel’s comforting whispers of “we’re almost there, it’s alright, none of them will hurt you”. As a result when Asgore tapped them gently to signal them that they’d arrived at a door conveniently marked “LAB”, they could stand with only a little shakiness, and the two goats put comforting hands on either of their shoulders.

“Dad’s gonna stay with you, since he knows about humans. I’ll be waiting in the lobby,” Asriel declared, and just as he finished the door opened.

The figure in the doorway appeared to be the skeleton of a human, with two exceptions: his eyesockets seemed to have white pupils in them and to function as if they were his eyes, and his mouth, despite having no lips to speak of, turned up in an amicable smile. In a white lab coat he looked like something Frankenstein could only dream up, and his pupils shot back and forth between the three visitors as his hands moved rapidly in what Chara could only assume was some sort of sign language, though not like one that people used on the surface. 

“Chara?” The deep voice shot them back to reality, and they were met with Gaster enthusiastically waving at them, a gesture they returned with their bandaged hand. Noticing this, Gaster began signing back to their caretaker, who relayed to Chara that they were to continue this inside.

-

“Yes, they do like it! It’s very sturdy and they seem able to use it easily.” Asgore smiled down at them. “He was wondering if you liked the crutch,” he explained, which prompted them to give a thumbs up.

“No, they aren’t mute, they just have had lots of headaches lately and it seems like they don’t like to speak in that case.

“No, I don’t know what would be causing them. 

“They did start after an accident, yes. Blunt trauma, to put it simply...” Upon hearing this, Chara curled up a little more and sunk a little deeper into the couch.

“Chara? Dr. Gaster would like to know if you want the lights turned down.” Rather than the immediate “yes” they wanted to give, they only shrugged. Gaster took this as a yes anyway, and soon the room was dark enough to Chara to be able to comfortably see. He caught their eye and gave a thumbs-up, which they returned.

Now that they could keep their eyes open, Chara watched Gaster’s hands move mystifyingly fast as he pressed Asgore for more details.

“They seem to be broken, yes. Tori is healing them sometimes, but we don’t know how well magic works on humans, and they can’t walk without help or use their right hand.

“Chara, he’s going to examine you. He isn’t trying to hurt you.” They nodded and stared at the ground while Gaster took hold of their extended arm, praying he didn’t ask about every injury on it.

It seems the dream came true, as he didn’t prompt them for anything except to perform basic exercises like wiggling their fingers and bending their wrist, and as he checked their leg and head he made no remark on how they tugged their sleeve back down, only made notes on a piece of paper in handwriting that really proved he was a doctor; it was all made of symbols and shapes and seemed totally incomprehensible. Following the exam he relayed his findings and suggestions to Asgore, who then turned to Chara.

“He says you should be able to use your hand again in a couple of months, but your leg may not be able to heal so easily. He has to straighten it and then bandage it like that in order to tell.” Despite wincing at the idea of moving their leg, they nodded, signaling to Asgore to continue. “Your headaches should be able to go away on their own, and if they don’t we’ll come back here in a few weeks. Whenever you’re ready, he’s going to get you bandaged up.”

Chara looked over to the doctor, who was still smiling away, and had several rolls of bandages sitting by him now. They got up and he led them to another seat, this one with a table they could rest on if they so desired. He bandaged up their wrist first, the movements seeming harsh to an aching hand, and made sure that they could still move their fingers and that nothing else hurt. When that was checked out, he went through the process of extending their leg and bandaging that up. Once that succeeded he double-checked that their crutch was suitable and gave them a rarely seen **double skeleton thumbs up**.

-

“Right. I’ll make sure she uses it as often as she can. Thank you for all your help, Dr. Gaster.”

Before they could object, Asgore had swooped up his kids and was on the way out. Asriel was clearly used to being carried away by his dad, but now faced the unique predicament of having Chara’s immobilized leg in his lap as well. His solution, then, was to return the favor, and as a result the two ended up forming a bridge of legs across Asgore’s chest, and though Chara tried to stifle their giggling at this scenario Asriel and their helpless victim didn’t.

Most of the trip home from the laboratory was about as successful as the trip to it, and Chara ended up nervously clinging to their bottle of tea again until they were informed that they were back in the grey halls of their home and that this time, they could stay and look over at the city all they pleased. They were dropped off at the edge of a hall where they could see out into the horizon and in their train of thought they hadn’t heard Asgore disappear, or come back with Toriel.


	7. Chapter 7

The houses in the distance looked like the houses of their village as the inhabitants ducked for cover from the rain: distant, grey, dreary, and for better or worse, a reminder that they had a set place in the world and they could never go back now.

They looked over at the smiling family - Asriel, whose tail stuck out of his shirt again and wagged as they made eye contact; Asgore and Toriel, who held each other closely and nuzzled noses; a family who, despite their better interest, had taken in this broken, burdensome, unwanted child, and gave them food, shelter, medicine, and...

Maybe angels did have fur after all.


End file.
